Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Convergence or divergence? The impact of technology on “why growth rates differ”

  • Conference paper
The Global Dimension of Economic Evolution

Abstract

This paper presents an overview and assessment of the theoretical and empirical work on catch-up and growth, with particular emphasis on the impact of technology, and the consequences for developing countries. The point of departure is the neoclassical theory of economic growth, as laid out by Solow and others in the 1950s, and the applied work that followed (“growth accounting”). Then the contributions from economic historians and more heterodox economists, such as Schumpeter, Kaldor and others, are discussed, followed by an account of the most recent theoretical developments (“new growth theory”) and the empirical (econometric) work in this area.

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Joseph A. Schumpeter Society 1992 Conference, 19–22 August, Kyoto, Japan. I want to thank the commentator, Karl Heinrich Oppenländer, and the other participants at the session for comments and suggestions. The revision of the paper has also benefited from my recent work in this area, whether under single authorship (Fagerberg 1994) or together with Nick von Tunzelmann and Bart Verspagen (Fagerberg et al. 1994). I am grateful to Nick and Bart for allowing me to draw on our joint work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abramovitz M (1956) Resources and output trends in the United States since 1870. Am Econ Rev 46: 5–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramovitz M (1979) Rapid growth potential and its realization: the experience of capitalist economies in the postwar period. In: Malinvaud E (ed) Economic growth and resources. Macmillan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramovitz M (1986) Catching up, forging ahead, and falling behind. J Econ Hist 66: 385–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abramovitz M (1994a) Catch-up and convergence in the postwar growth boom and after. In: Baumol WJ, Nelson R, Wolff EN (eds) Convergence of productivity: cross-national studies and historical evidence. pp. 86–125, Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramovitz M (1994b) In: Fagerberg J, Verspagen B, von Tonzelmann N (eds) The dynamics of technology, trade and growth. Edward Elgar, Aldershot

    Google Scholar 

  • Abramovitz M, David P (1973) Reinterpreting economic growth: parables and realities. Am Econ Rev 63: 428–439

    Google Scholar 

  • Aghion P, Howitt P (1992) A model of growth through creative destruction. Econometrica 60: 323–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amable B (1993) Catch-up and convergence: a model of cumulative growth. Int Rev Appl Econ 7: 1–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow K (1962) The economic implications of learning by doing. Rev Econ Stud 29:155–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barro R (1991) Economic growth in a cross section of countries. Q J Econ CVI: 407–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumol WJ (1986) Productivity growth, convergence and welfare: what the long run data show. Am Econ Rev 76: 1072–1085

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumol WJ, Batey Blackman SA, Wolff EN (1989) Productivity and American leadership: the long view. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass

    Google Scholar 

  • Blomström M, Lipsey R, Zejan M (1992) What explains developing country growth? NBER Working Paper No. 4132. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Mass

    Google Scholar 

  • Cimoli M (1988) Technological gaps and institutional asymmetries in a North-South model with a continuum of goods. Metroeconomica 39: 245–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cimoli M, Soete L (1992) A generalized technological gap trade model. Econ Appl 45: 33–54

    Google Scholar 

  • De Long JB (1988) Productivity growth, convergence and welfare. Am Econ Rev 78:1138–1154

    Google Scholar 

  • De Long JB, Summers LH (1991) Equipment investment and economic growth. Q J Econ CVI: 445–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denison EF (1962) The sources of economic growth in the United States and the alternatives before us. Committee for Economic Development, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Denison EF (1967) Why growth rates differ. Post-war experience in nine western countries. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Denison EF (1969) Some major issues in productivity analysis: an examination of estimates by Jorgenson and Griliches. Surv Curr Bus 49: 1–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Denison EF, Chung WK (1976) How Japan’s economy grew so fast: the sources of postwar expansion. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon R, Thirlwall AP (1975) A model of regional growth-rate differences on Kaldorian lines. Oxford Econ Papers 27: 201–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Dosi G, Pavitt K, Soete L (1990) The economics of technical change and international trade. Harvester Wheatsheaf, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowrick S, Nguyen DT (1989) OECD comparative economic growth 1950–85: catch-up and convergence. Am Econ Rev 79: 1010–1030

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards S (1992) Trade orientation, distortions and growth in developing countries. J Devel Econ 39: 31–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J (1987) A technology gap approach to why growth rates differ. Res Policy 16: 87–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J (1988a) Why growth rates differ. In: Dosi G et al. (eds) Technical change and economic theory, pp 432–457. Pinter, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J (1988b) International competitiveness. Econ J 98: 355–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J (1991) Innovation, catching up and growth. In: Technology and productivity: the challenge for economic policy, pp 37–46. OECD, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J (1994) Technology and international differences in growth rates. J Econ Lit 32: 1147–1175

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagerberg J, Verspagen B, von Tunzelman N (1994) The economics of convergence and divergence: an overview. In: (eds) The dynamics of technology, trade and growth. Edward Elgar, Aldershot

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishlow A, et al. (1994) Miracle or design? Lessons from the East Asian experience. Policy Essay No. 11. Overseas Development Council, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerschenkron A (1962) Economic backwardness in historical perspective. The Belknap Press, Cambridge, Mass

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomulka S (1971) Inventive activity, diffusion and the stages of economic growth. Skrifter fra Aarhus Universitets Økonomiske Institut, Nr. 24, Aarhus

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossman GM, Helpman E (1991) Innovation and growth in the global economy. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass

    Google Scholar 

  • Helpman E (1992) Endogenous macroeconomic growth theory. Eur Econ Rev 36: 237–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johansen L (1959) Substitution versus fixed production coefficients in the theory of economic growth: a synthesis. Econometrica 27: 157–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgensen D, Griliches Z (1967) The explanation of productivity change. Rev Econ Stud 34: 249–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgensen D, Griliches Z (1972) Some major issues in growth accounting: a reply to dension. Surv Curr Bus 52: 65–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor N (1957) A model of economic growth. Econ J 67: 591–624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor N (1961) Capital accumulation and economic growth. In: Lutz FA, Hague DC (eds) The theory of capital. Macmillan, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor N (1966) Causes of the slow rate of economic growth of the United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor N (1967) Strategic factors in economic development. New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor N (1970) The case for regional policies. Scot J Polit Econ 17: 337–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor N (1978) The effects of devaluation on trade in manufactures. In: Further essays on applied economics (Collected papers vol VI), pp 99–118. Duckworth, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor N (1981) The role of increasing returns, technical progress and cumulative causation in the theory of international trade and economic growth. Econ Appl 34: 593–617

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor N, Mirrlees JA (1962) A new model of economic growth. Rev Econ Stud 29: 174–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendrick JW (1961) Productivity trends in the United States. Princeton University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendrick JW (1981) International comparisons of recent productivity trends. In: Fellner W (ed) Essays in contemporary economic problems. American Enterprise Institute, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Learner EE (1988) Measures of openness. In: Baldwin RE (ed) Trade policy issues and empirical analysis. pp 147–200. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine R, Renelt D (1992) A sensitivity analysis of cross-country growth regressions. Am Econ Rev 82: 942–963

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas RE (1988) On the mechanisms of economic development. J Mon Econ 22: 3–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas RE (1993) Making a miracle. Econometrica 61: 251–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundvall BÅ (ed) (1992) National systems of innovation — towards a theory of innovation and interactive learning. Pinter, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddison A (1979) Long run dynamics of productivity growth. Banca Naz Lav Q Rev 128: 1–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddison A (1982) Phases of capitalist development. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddison A (1987) Growth and slowdown in advanced capitalist economies: techniques of quantitative assessment. J Econ Lit 25: 649–698

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddison A (1991) Dynamic forces in capitalist development. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Mankiw NG, Romer D, Weil DN (1992) A contribution to the empirics of economic growth. Q J Econ 107: 407–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCombie JSL (1986) On some interpretations of the relationship between productivity and output growth. Appl Econ 18: 1215–1255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCombie JSL, Thirlwall AP (1994) Economic growth and the balance-of-payments constraint. Macmillan, Basingstoke and London

    Google Scholar 

  • Myrdal G (1957) Economic theory and underdeveloped regions. Duckworth, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadiri MI (1970) Some approaches to the theory and measurement of total factor productivity: a survey. J Econ Lit 85: 1137–1177

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R (1964) Aggregate production functions and medium-range growth projections. Am Econ Rev 54: 575–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R (1973) Recent exercises in growth accounting: new understanding or dead end? Am Econ Rev 63: 462–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R (1981) Research on productivity growth and productivity differentials: dead ends and new departures. J Econ Lit 19: 1029–1064

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R (ed) (1993) National innovation systems, a comparative study. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R, Wright G (1992) The rise and fall of American technological leadership: the postwar era in historical perspective. J Econ Lit 30: 1931–1964

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohkawa K, Rosovsky H (1973) Japanese economic growth. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Pasinetti LL (1981) Structural change and economic growth. A theoretical essay on the dynamics of the wealth of nations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavitt K, Soete LG (1982) International differences in economic growth and the international location of innovation. In: Giersch H (ed.) Emerging technologies: consequences for economic growth, structural change, and employment. J.C.B. Mohr, Tübingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelps ES (1966) Models of technical progress and the Golden rule of research. Rev. Econ Stud 33: 133–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitchford JD (1960) Growth and the elasticity of factor substitution. Econ Rec 36: 491–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renelt D (1991) Economic growth — a review of the theoretical and empirical literature. Working papers. Macroeconomic adjustment and growth, country economics department. The World Bank, March 1991, WPS 678. The World Bank, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Romer PM (1986) Increasing returns and long-run growth. J Polit Econ 94: 1002–1037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romer PM (1990) Endogenous technological change. J Polit Econ 98: 1002–1037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott MFG (1989) A new view of economic growth. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw GK (1992) Policy implications of endogenous growth theory. Econ J 102: 611–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shell K (1967) A model of inventive activity and capital accumulation. In: Shell K (ed) Essays on the theory of optimal growth, pp 67–85. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass

    Google Scholar 

  • Siebert H (1991) A Schumpeterian model of growth in the world economy: Some notes on a new paradigm in international economics. Weltwirtschaftl Arch 127: 801–812

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer H, Reynolds L (1976) Technological backwardness and productivity growth. Econ J 85: 873–876

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skonhoft A (1989) Økonomisk vekst og konvergens. Langtidslinjer i etterkrigsperioden, Norsk Økonomisk Tidsskrift 103: 283–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Solow R (1956) A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Q J Econ 70: 65–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solow R (1957) Technical change and the aggregate production function. Rev Econ Stat 39: 312–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solow R (1960) Investment and technical progress. In: Arrow KJ, Karlin S (eds) Mathematical methods in the social sciences 1959. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Summers R, Heston A (1991) The Penn world table (mark 5): an expanded set of international comparisons 1950–1988. Q J Econ CVI: 327–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thirlwall AP (1979) The balance of payments constraint as an explanation of international growth rate differences. Banco Naz Lav Q Rev 32: 45–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Uzawa H (1965) Optimum technical change in an aggregative model of economic growth. Intl Econ Rev 6: 18–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Plog F, Tang PJG (1992) The macroeconomics of growth: an international perspective. Oxford Rev Econ Policy 8: 15–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verdoorn PJ (1949) Fattori che regolano lo sviluppo della produttivita’ del lavoro. L’Industria 1: 3–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Verspagen B (1991) A new empirical approach to catching up or falling behind. Struct Change Econ Dynam 2: 359–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verspagen B (1992) Endogenous innovation in neo-classical models: A survey. J Macroecon 14: 631–662

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verspagen B (1993) Uneven growth between interdependent economies. The evolutionary dynamics of growth and technology. Avebury, Aldershot

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade R (1990) Governing the market. Economic theory and the role of government in East Asian industrialization. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff EN (1994) Technology, capital accumulation and long run growth. In Fagerberg J, Verspagen B, von Tunzelmann N (eds) The dynamics of technology, trade and growth, pp 53–74, Edward Elgar, Aldershot

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (1993) The East Asian miracle. Economic growth and public policy. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), P.O.B. 8159 DEP, N-0033, Oslo, Norway

    Jan Fagerberg

Authors
  1. Jan Fagerberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economics, University of St. Gallen, Sandrainstraße 21, CH-9010, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Kurt Dopfer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1996 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Fagerberg, J. (1996). Convergence or divergence? The impact of technology on “why growth rates differ”. In: Dopfer, K. (eds) The Global Dimension of Economic Evolution. Physica-Verlag HD. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48870-2_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48870-2_6

  • Publisher Name: Physica-Verlag HD

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-48872-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-48870-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation